Here he was; the same dark abyss, the same flaking shadow of the tree above. The same voices echoed through the undefined space as if it were a cavern peered into only by nightfall.
“Belief…”
Elaboration wasn’t far behind, for the wondering human.
“Belief… in the leaf… is required…”
In Sanvu’s brief lucid state, he turned around, only to see his own leafy tail before focusing. The shadows that looked like a tree certainly didn’t have leaves… which left him wondering if they were talking about him. He couldn’t quite be sure, looking between the tree and the tail, trying to figure out what ‘leaf’ meant.
“Required…”
Every individual word had its own facsimile, an interpretation for every possible instance. It wasn’t hard to imprint in Sanvu’s head with just the sheer repetition alone.
After a few more bouts of “required” as repeated by more voices, he began to feel the fuzziness of waking, but once again, the voice started one more time as if to tease him for his lack of focus.
“For growth….”
He awoke to Pachuku, who funnily enough, wasn’t particularly antsy that morning. He was peeking at the book he’d given Sanvu yesterday, the one that had contained a depiction of a human in it. When Sanvu practically rolled out of bed, that’s what prompted Pachuku into finding out what was up.
After divulging the dream’s contents, of what Sanvu could remember, Pachuku’s face grew lines.
“Belief… in the leaf? Could that mean you? Unless it meant that tree, but like you said, you couldn’t discern any other leaves…”
“If it does mean me, what could it want?” Sanvu looked even more tired than if he’d just remained asleep. He seemed scared, but there was something else to it that Pachuku couldn’t quite gather.
“Well, if it’s after you, then we just have to make sure it doesn’t get you!” Pachuku decided, seemingly satisfied with that answer, much to Sanvu’s chagrin.
“But… it’s in my dreams every couple of nights or so. Wouldn’t it have ample time to ‘get’ me then?”
“So why didn’t it, then? It’s had plenty of chances, all things considered,” he joked, his tail lightly bobbing as he said that. It was enough for the Grass-type to stifle a laugh before resuming his tired look.
“I’m just… so sick of it being so vague all the time. The ‘leaf’ is required for something, but what?”
“Didn’t you say it wanted ‘belief,’ or did I mishear that?”
“Belief in the leaf. Whatever that means.”
“Belief, huh? What’s so important about that? Actually!” Pachuku perked up with that last statement, ears alert for a second before he turned around.
“That last one talked about how the dreams were being replaced with darkness, that’s what I get from what you said of that one,” Pachuku pointed out, “This one talked about belief, so maybe it’s talking about everyone’s hope in something.”
“Know any leaves people worship around here, then? Or any trees?”
“Not any I know of,” Pachuku shrugged, “But those messages, they sound related, right?”
“I figured they all were, but I just haven’t thought about it much.”
“We should start figuring it out. It’s not like Didra wants us to be talking about them much, so it’s not like they’re of any help.”
Pachuku got started on fishing out berries from his seemingly endless supply. Sanvu twirled around again to look at his tail, noticing that he wasn’t feeling weird anymore, or at least, no weirder than how he usually was in this form. There was a distinct lack of any pinpricking or odd sleep positions; Pachuku as well seemed fine, no extra voltage spilling from his cheeks from his own observations.
He brought this up to Pachuku, silently hoping he didn’t jinx it, but nothing came.
“Yeah, that’s weird. I don’t feel much different on my end. Do you?”
Sanvu shook his head. Lucky for both of them, it seemed that whatever had been going on had subsided, allowing for a peaceful, typical morning.
When they got to Mindscape, it was very quiet. So quiet that the usual Natu wasn’t even at the door, and instead, greeting them were Trunie and Kichy, who opened the doors for them upon seeing them.
“Hi, you two ready to get to work today?” the Gothorita beamed, almost forcefully. The Inkay wore an expression that looked of boredom, but he somewhat straightened out upon seeing the Minders.
“Sure, but, where’s Didra?” Pachuku asked, looking about.
“Oh, she left earlier, with Notey. We’ve got some great news,” Trunie explained, before twirling on the spot, “We’ve been upgraded to a full team,” she revealed, winking. Sanvu lightly clapped, while Pachuku tilted his head in confusion.
“We weren’t entirely a full team before this,” Kichy pointed out, “since we had to maintain the training room and acted as security while everybody else was out, which is what we’re still doing now, buut…”
“But now we get to go on missions like the rest of you! We’re the Nerveos, that’s what she assigned to us, anyways cause we didn’t have a name ourselves…” Trunie interrupted, “she said it was something to do with ‘staffing concerns’ whatever that means, as to why.
The Minders had a guess, but neither said anything aloud about it. “So-“ Sanvu started, before Trunie blurted in again.
“I wasn’t done, sorry, sorry, but Didra left one mission specifically for you on the board. You can go in the training room any time as usual, of course, well, besides today. We were waiting for you because you guys were the last to show up today.”
“Which means…?” Sanvu started, when Kichy started again.
“It means that once you guys have accepted the mission, Mindscape will be closed for today until Didra gets back, since we’ve been assigned to checking something out ourselves. Trunie’s been dying to go on the mission, so…”
“Right, don’t take too long.”
“Oh, well, good luck you guys!” Pachuku ran past, to check out the board himself, as Sanvu stepped in further. Pachuku turned it on, and it wasn’t hard to find, literally the only mission present on the board was for the Minders. Pachuku read it out.
“My friend, Lilli entered the woods despite the Mystery Dungeon there, and didn’t come back. I’d go looking for her myself, but I don’t want to risk becoming Amnesiac again, and for some reason, the dungeon has apparently grown more dangerous, so I’m begging somebody to go and save her! She could be in danger!
It’s from Peko,” Pachuku noted, Sanvu vaguely recalling the name. “That’s the Pikachu from our first mission, huh; at least he isn’t going in anymore.”
“So, who’s this Lilli?”
“The mission’s in Mystical Woods; and the species in question is a Lillipup. Sounds easy enough,”
“We should note something, apparently, one of the other teams went there yesterday and they noticed that white muck you guys noticed is all pretty much gone,” Kichy divulged, “but the dungeon’s apparitions… aren’t as weak as they used to be,” he turned a little away, slightly, but this didn’t deter either of them.
“I was barely holding back, on our earlier missions,” Pachuku remarked. “I feel like I could take on anything, all things considered,” he proudly placed a paw on his chest, and while Sanvu only grunted in agreement, it seemed he held a similar opinion.
“So where are you guys headed?” Sanvu wondered, before Trunie slumped.
“It’s just asking questions in town, cause all the others are at the nearby dungeons looking out for clues related to this type energy stuff. But we’ve been allocated… a lot of houses to talk to.”
“Yeah, but we’re determined, so, are you guys ready?” Kichy motioned his flaps to them as they nodded profusely.
After the usual preparations, it was out on a rescue.
“So, a Lillipup was the name of the species? What should we be looking for?” Sanvu queried, “I’m guessing the ‘pup’ means it’s small?”
“It’s small, so about our size, brown, very furry, and quadrupedal. I think it also has a bit of blue fur on its back,” Pachuku explained, calling from out front.
“Sounds like it could be an actual dog,” Sanvu commented in a low mutter, which didn’t miss Pachuku’s sharp ears.
“I mean, I don’t know what those are but it should be distinct enough for us. I’ll try and look out for her, while you handle the battling.”
The former human could only agree, as they once again entered the Mystery Dungeon. The barrier between the real world and these eldritch labyrinths was less cumbersome to go through now than it had been when he first started.
Nothing appeared different, from the same pink trees and cliffs. The white rocks with gold undersides embedded in the walls. Even the bubbles were still present; though they looked more transparent this time, like floating Orbs that had nothing in them or on them, somewhere close to the appearance of a bubble. It was as Kichy had said, though, the white muck that had been present on their last visit was nowhere to be seen.
It wasn’t until their second room, near the stairs, that something went amiss. Sanvu felt a click under his feet, and looked down to find some kind of purple light that instantly blinded him. He could feel some kind of odd vibration, before tripping forward, barely conscious.
“You alright?” he heard Pachuku call. He could at least make himself up, when he heard Pachuku mutter, “Where are we?”
When he opened his eyes, where he was expecting to see the woods had instead morphed into something resembling Stony Enclose, or perhaps any other cave, though the air was mildly colder, and running water could be heard nearby. The cavern was dimly lit, it resembled a Mystery Dungeon room, but it resembled nothing of the woods they were in prior.
“Are we… somewhere else?” Sanvu speculated, to which Pachuku shrugged.
“Could be, but I thought mysteriosity was a thing primarily on the Mist Continent, not here. That was a trap, but…” Pachuku looked about. “Why here?”
“The mission said in the woods, right? Isn’t this bad?” Sanvu worried, before Pachuku shook his head.
“When you warped, I tried stepping nearby to it so that I wouldn’t warp, but turns out there was one right next to it, and now I’m here with you,” he explained, looking about. “S-So maybe this is just… part of the dungeon, now?”
“Why does it keep changing?” Sanvu wondered.
“Well we’re not going to get anywhere by standing here, are we?”
“No, you’re right; I just hope we planned enough for this.”
Despite this, it seemed almost easier. Instead of the weak apparitions from the typical Mystical Woods that comprised of Normal and Psychic type Pokemon, this dungeon was almost entirely comprised of Water types, with a bit of Ground sprinkled in to a few of them. With these, Pachuku could only bother to serve as items support, but it was still somewhat of a cakewalk, and not just because their types were favourable to the situation.
Sanvu’s vines had a lot more strength behind them than they usually did, and even basic tackles seemed easier to pull off. Pachuku’s cheeks still sometimes sparked, but Discharge was beginning to sport 5 rays every so often, though Pachuku himself thought it was essentially overkill for the Water-types in here, since Discharge was essentially at something close to resembling a regular move now as opposed to some weird version of Thundershock, in his own words.
As they traversed, both of them felt abnormal energy growing, Sanvu some unknown energy that fizzled every time he brought out his vines, and Pachuku felt it most often near his cheeks, but it was nothing like the pinpricking from earlier, nor was it painful. The only real usages of their various seeds and Orbs came from Pachuku whenever he was supporting Sanvu’s takedown of any enemy he himself couldn’t use Quick Attack on, which wasn’t much given they pretty much all went down in an extremely low amount of hits. Some hits were literal one-shots.
Sanvu, however, was paying particular attention to his own energy increase. Pachuku was singing praises for how well they were knocking things down, but Sanvu in particular couldn’t help but notice the bizarreness of it all. He’d mostly grown used to being a small lizard now, but it made him ponder especially because he wasn’t used to this new feeling. It wasn’t something he brought up, though, and he supposed he was at least grateful that today wouldn’t be too difficult, provided they weren’t horribly lost like they thought.
*Music: Pokémon Black & White – Team Plasma Appears!
Upon reaching the end, there weren’t much of note; some ponds strewn about a dimly lit cavern. Some of these ponds tapered into small streams that lead elsewhere, but this wasn’t visible from the surface.
Two Pokemon entered, and one was thrown against the wall as soon as they entered, particularly battered and bruised.
“Wh-What… are you going… to do…?” the smaller one whimpered, body shaking. It took to running, but the bigger Pokemon of the two stood in its way.
“You really think you’re going to get yourself out of this one? Stay there, and butt out!” the larger one commanded.
The smaller Pokemon shivered, as its superior, the Palpitoad that had taken control of this place, who besides being large, bore a strange dark aura around it that the smaller Pokemon couldn’t identify.
“The superior needs you, and I’ve got to figure out some way of getting you there, alive, so then whatever needs to be done can be done. Until then, shut it.”
“B-But, what is that?!” It yelped, before promptly being shot in the face with a glob of bubbly water. Its quivering legs basically buckled, unable to take the toil.
“Dang if I know; and I certainly wouldn’t be telling you!” it hissed, stamping about in the water. “Was I supposed to wait here, or something? I’m not drowning the little scamp,” he mumbled a short moment after, seemingly to nobody.
In peering in the water, it didn’t find anything of note, eventually opting to just stand guard over the smaller Pokemon.
“Really, what could a silly little Lillipup be useful for? Certainly not battle, I’ll figure that much. They’re always so vague…” he grumbled, mostly to himself. The Lillipup in question was at his feet, softly crying to herself, but unable to do much of anything else.
Footsteps were heard, prompting the Palpitoad to turn around. Upon seeing who they belonged to, he could only grin.
“Oh, so they came as planned, eh? Convenient…” he remarked.
The Minders watched, as Pachuku pointed. “There she is! No doubt we found who took her as well!”
“Well, aren’t we just a bunch of colourful characters here? No doubt the superior would be thrilled to have you two as well!” the Palpitoad grinned, as they both got into position.
“Have… us?” Sanvu echoed, faltering.
~~
“Everyone! We’ve got company!” the Palpitoad shouted, causing various splashes that erupted into several Tympole surrounding the stream, all covered in dark aura, and covering the Lillipup from an easy swipe.
*Music: Pokémon Black & White – Battle! (Team Plasma)
“You want her, you’ll have to get through all of us,” the Palpitoad taunted, Pachuku already whispering to Sanvu.
“You handle the big guy, I can’t hit him. I’ll handle the small ones,” he pointed out, before the Palpitoad interjected.
“Correction, neither of you will hit us; you’ll all be joining us shortly,” he threw his head back, letting cry an enormous roar that the Tympole joined in singing along, throwing the two Minders back. It was enough for even the Lillipup’s fragile ears to clamp against her head in an effort to drown it out.
Pachuku however had already let loose pretty much all the bolts he could muster, zapping everybody within range. Despite that the Discharge hit its mark on the several Water-types in the room, many of them were able to withstand the charge, many of them continuing to sing loudly as the Palpitoad’s voice echoed across the room; who wasn’t affected by Discharge one bit, as Pachuku was already aware of, due to the partial Ground-typing.
The noise however was obscene enough that Sanvu couldn’t even bother getting close, which resulted in chuckles from the toad as it waddled closer.
“So let’s put you out of your misery,” he sneered, vibrating the various blue growths on its body, before letting loose various odd waves from his body, directed right at the two Pokemon opposing him. Pachuku attempted to shout, but was drowned out by the strange waves. In clutching his ears, however, he didn’t succumb to its effect, just mindlessly washing off his body as if they were trickles. Pachuku silently thanked the Persim Band he was wearing for that set of immunity. He was the only lucky one, though, for Sanvu had indeed fallen for the waves, and was now stumbling about, feeling an intense set of vertigo as he tripped over, unable to clear his head.
“Urgh, never brought any protection for that…” Pachuku muttered, opting to ram into it instead with Quick Attack, which bounced him right off, right before the group all started up in chorus again, flinging Pachuku back with ease. He couldn’t be confused, but he sure still couldn’t get close, and his only significant attack was only useful against the small fry. He once again attempted to zip into the Palpitoad, only to be hit with the extremely uncomfortable sensation of mud on his fur, flinging him back into the wall, desperately trying to shake it off to no avail, the dirt seeping into his fur, causing immeasurable pain.
“Sanvu! It’ll wear off eventually! You’ve got to do something!” he yelled, trying to scramble to his feet. The Grass -type had managed to get on his feet, but because his head was still spinning, he’d instead launched his vines straight into one of the Tympole who’d come to launch bubbles in his face, and many of them were still chattering along as the Palpitoad roared yet another round of chorus, this time flinging Sanvu back physically to the same wall.
“Man, these guys just aren’t up to it, huh?” the Palpitoad quipped, the Tympole giggling in response, “I’ll let you have ‘em, since they’re such easy fry. Careful with the Electric one though,” he warned, pushing one of the eager Tympole towards them, who started spewing bubbles towards the two recovering Pokemon. Pachuku had already eaten an Oran Berry, and had fed one to Sanvu, despite that he couldn’t see very well despite all of this.
Eventually, it continued on much like this, any time either of the Minders tried to get close, the Palpitoad would order a Round from all of the nearby Tympole, and they would get blown back. If Sanvu tried to get close even after this, he would then confuse him, and since Pachuku’s Discharge was only useful for taking out the smaller Tympole, this left them at a severe disadvantage, and all almost seemed over, despite what might’ve seemed to the contrary.
The Lillipup, who’d been watching, while she was too bruised to actually do any damage herself to these lunatics, eventually whined really loudly herself, causing the Tympole to use Bubble on her instead. This provided an opening, particularly, for Pachuku.
Sanvu was once again confused, flung against the wall. He hadn’t been able to use his vines for the entire fight, instead being more a literal battering ram for the entire fight. It wasn’t pretty, both what he felt and what he was thinking. He was mentally chiding himself for being unable to do anything, and only in the corner of his vision did he see Pachuku’s sparks actually do something.
Pachuku had used Quick Attack on the Tympole that was closest to the front, knocking it into the others that surrounded the Lillipup, but what was most strange was that he’d let loose a bit of charge alongside it, which had transferred onto the Tympole, and as it bounced into the others, they also gained these sparks as it danced along their bodies, and laid motionless behind the Lillipup, who could only stare in as much awe as Pachuku did.
“I… I used Nuzzle?! Oof!”
That was the Palpitoad once again flinging the Electric-type with mud, which once again sent him back. Both were seriously running out of Oran Berries, and they hadn’t brought much else, which left them in uncomfortable positions right by the entrance.
“No….” the Lillipup whined, thrashing about, “No, please don’t be down!”
“Quiet, you little runt! I’m only bringing you your friends, after all!” the toad snapped, sending a glower at the paralysed Tympole, while a few were still within the stream, still able to move.
“Nobody move close to them! Another one!” he ordered, letting loose yet another Round.
It made its mark, but right as it hit, the Lillipup weakly Tackled the Palpitoad, before promptly being flung against the wall again.
“With how much trouble you’ve been, it’s any wonder you’re wanted alive,” he grumbled.
Sanvu slowly managed to get himself up, fuming. For all that he’d been down, and flung by the incessant noise that echoed through the hall, he’d begun to feel something odd growing within himself. For since he couldn’t see properly most of the time due to the world literally leaning and turning, he’d instead become attuned to himself, since he couldn’t use his vines, nor could he get close enough to do a Tackle, there had to be something else he could do. Something to hit from afar, which he slowly but surely came to the realisation of.
Pachuku was extremely bruised, in Sanvu’s now-clear vision, the confusion subsiding again. Instead of getting closer to the Palpitoad, however, he stayed right where he was, and focused on that odd energy within him. He figured there was an answer there, and there was, luckily.
Right as the Palpitoad started up to make another Supersonic, however, Pachuku zipped in for a Quick Attack, before being promptly flung to Lilli’s position by the Palpitoad by the neck. Pachuku could only flop down, slightly.
“Well, there’s two. Now for the little Grassy.”
Sanvu, however, wasn’t going to go nearly as easily. He kept on focusing, and eventually, though he couldn’t see it, he began to create movement, and eventually, energy began to swirl all around his body.
The Supersonic once again hit, but he was still in the charging of the move, the energy manifesting into small leaves that Sanvu couldn’t see, for he did not want to experience the uncomfortable vertigo again, but despite the confusion, he felt the desire for each individual leaf to obey his motion, which he thrust forward, commanding them to spin and spiral into the Palpitoad, who upon receiving them stumbled over just a little bit. Pachuku could only stare in awe, despite that several of the leaves missed, many of them hit their mark, and he zipped over and around the Palpitoad again, clearly not having been beaten down enough. His cheeks were sparking, Nuzzling any potential Tympole who came to confine him.
He fished in his bag, eventually feeding Sanvu their last Oran Berry, the confusion also wearing off as mere coincidence happened, allowing him to open his eyes.
“Keep doing that, I’ll keep putting them out.”
“Keep doing what?”
“That move! Just do whatever you did there, but again!”
“Rrrr, you’re not going to get me!”
Once again, they echoed into a chorus of sound, as Sanvu tried desperately to recreate the steps. As he did, Pachuku noticed that his tail was glowing, as the movement started up again around him, Pachuku fishing in the bag, finding an Orb with an orange swirling pattern. “Let’s see how they like it!” he grinned, holding it out. Upon its use, all of the Pokemon in the room besides the ones who weren’t Water-type were all confused, drunkenly waddling and slamming into one another.
“Now!”
Sanvu once again thrust all of the miniature leaves into swirling into the Palpitoad, with Pachuku charging up a Discharge meant explicitly for the remaining Tympole who were still standing, the combined attack hitting each of their targets. Pachuku managed to Quick Attack Palpitoad one last time, sending him reeling. Sanvu had already charged up another attack, once again hitting him for the last time with the new move, which he learned from Pachuku was named Leaf Tornado.
The Palpitoad went to start another Round, but ended up hacking and coughing, unable to do any more. Pachuku rammed him again, and it truly seemed like he was almost down.
“Another Leaf Tornado?” Sanvu guessed, and Pachuku nodded, panting.
“Yeah, betcha this last one will put him out. All the others are done.”
Pachuku hopped out of the way, allowing Sanvu to once again conjure all the leaves. He was too preoccupied with the feeling for anything else to come to mind, since he just wanted to complete the mission, and to not fail.
Upon casting another set of them at the Palpitoad, it seemed like he was down, both of them lightly panting, and extremely bruised, their ears ringing from the loud vibrations caused by the various Rounds, it seemed as if they could barely stand, as they picked themselves up.
~~
“Hey, get over here!” Pachuku yelled, to the Lillipup, “We came to save you, a-heck!” he coughed, still shaking off most of his injuries. Lilli managed to run right over, the beaten Pokemon around her only able to twitch a foot or tail, tears streaming down her face.
“Oh thank goodness! I was worried I would b-become Amnesiac, a-and I’d… never see anyone… and this idiot was going on about the superior and I-“
“Whoa whoa, slow down there!” Pachuku interrupted, fishing for his badge. “You sure you’re not Amnesiac?”
“I don’t feel like it,” Lilli answered, “B-But… I th-thought I was going to, if you two hadn’t… come along.”
“Well, let’s get you back to Mindscape. Entrance, anyways,” he fiddled for his badge, and was ready to send her back, when their foes had managed to recover, picking themselves up slowly.
“Th-they still aren’t down?!” Sanvu hissed, which prompted the other two to look over in their direction, only to find the Palpitoad, who, while he was on his feet, was looking around with wide eyes.
“Are they-“
“Shh, I’ll make sure she gets back,” Pachuku focused on Mindscape, the light emanating enough to send the Lillipup back home, safely out of harm’s way.
“There, now we only need each other,” Pachuku huffed, only to notice that the Tympole had basically all swum away, leaving a dazed Palpitoad standing there, looking at the two team members with confusion.
“Hey… wait… this happened before…” Sanvu realised, noticing how fearful he looked. “Hey, wait!”
“Wh-What?! Who are you?! And how’d I end up in this right place?!” the Palpitoad demanded, looking about in confusion. “Never mind that, what happened to me?!”
“That’s what we’d like to know,” Sanvu retorted, crossing his arms. “You kidnap a child and talk about wanting to take them to a ‘superior’ and then tell us we’d be taken to it as well?”
“I said that?! I don’t remember any of that!” the Palpitoad snarled, head whipping about, noticing the bruises on their bodies, and figuring out that they were telling the truth. “L-look, I know nothing, nothing, okay? Wherever the kid is, you can have ‘em! I’m outta this joint!”
He quickly vamoosed into one of the nearby streams, swimming as far as he could. Sanvu called out, wanting to learn more, but quickly lost him, since he was too damaged to do anything but stand.
“What was that about?” Pachuku rhetorically wondered, Sanvu fuming. “This happened before, you remember, right?” the former human stated.
“Huh? What did?”
“We defeat them, and then they don’t remember anything to do with the situation. It happened on that other mission, too,” Sanvu pointed out, panting, “God, I’m so tired…”
“We should get back; then you can explain to me then. We need outta here,” Pachuku stressed, which prompted Sanvu to agree, both warping the other back to Mindscape’s entrance.
Didra and Notey were once again ready to greet them by the time they returned, congratulating them for preventing another catastrophe. Peko was also there, and he and Lilli shared a tearful reunion.
“It was so scary! B-But then the Snivy… he saved everybody!” the Lillipup recounted, Sanvu sheepishly shying away.
“I really don’t know how to thank you,” Peko teared, “I know it isn’t much, but, really, thank you!”
“Aww, it was nothing!” Pachuku commented, with Notey giving the monetary reward to Sanvu, who couldn’t help feeling proud himself.
“You two should be proud of such a good mission well done,” Didra complimented, with nary a hint of anything but sincerity. “Now, you know going in dungeons is dangerous, so try avoiding them in future, if possible,” she warned the Lillipup, who drooped towards the floor.
“Yeah, I’ll stay away, I promise, but what will that mean for town?”
“We’ll just have to sort something out with the others when they get back from their mission, and we’ll talk that over,” Didra reassured them, the clients both ready to go.
“You helped me with Piki…. and now Lilli… honestly, you two are the best!” Peko thanked them once more before they each waved one another goodbye.
“So, we have to stick around?” Sanvu wondered, Didra nodding.
“Yup, keep an eye out for the other teams; everyone was scheduled to come back.”
“But… about the-“
“Yes, the ‘superior’ you mentioned, I’ll keep note of that. I’m going to add it to my notes, but do not leave until I tell you to,” she ordered, the two of them more than happy to, since their condition wasn’t exactly the best to be skedaddling. Notey went and fetched some healing for the both of them, Sanvu turning to Pachuku and explaining what he couldn’t in the dungeon. The Natu also listened in, mildly intrigued.
“So this happened to you on your first big mission, uh?” he noted, with Sanvu nodding.
“Yes, the one with the bird. You’d knocked her down, but then she just… looked afraid and left. That’s when we got that weird slip of paper,” Sanvu remembered, which prompted a head twitch from the Natu.
“What slip of paper?” the small bird asked.
“Oh, she dropped it,” Pachuku pointed out. “Apparently says “Return of the Stars” in Unown, at least, that’s what Sanvu said. He seems to know something about it.”
“Which is?”
“I don’t know. It’s just… familiar to me somehow. But if I try to recall… it’s just blank. Like it’s just a name I know.”
“Hmm, fascinating,” Notey pondered. “You think it’s related to him, then?”
“Well, he can read it, so, I guess?” Pachuku speculated, shrugging.
“You should bring that slip here. At the very least, if it’s related to all this, we might be able to use it.”
“Guess we’ll do that tomorrow…” Sanvu supposed right as the door flung open. In came a familiar Electabuzz and Duosion.
“We’re back!” the Electric-type grunted, huffing. “Where’s Didra?”
“She left over that way to her office. I think she’ll want you to stay,” Notey clarified.
“Yeah, I’ll be right with ‘er,” Tenab affirmed, practically bolting past the others without so much as giving them a glance, their faces wrought with fear. Not even Derjie could spare a moment, floating right over.
“What’s all that about?” Pachuku wondered aloud, Sanvu internally.
“What?!”
“Yeah, we tried usin’ the badges, but it’s as if it totally busted out!”
According to Tenab, and Oshee as well, upon reaching the ends in their respective dungeons, attempting to warp to the other side resulted in nothing happening. They had just told Didra this, with Didra ordering Oshee’s team to rest, while Tenab and Derjie were recounting to the Minders the details.
“They could still detect Amnesiac energy… but it’s as if the dungeons truly are encasing us,” Derjie trembled, “It’s like there’s nothing on the other side.”
“We really need to get to the bottom ‘o this soon. We should team up, sometime, again, you guys seem to have a good track record for that kinda thing, what with findin’ out there’s a superior an’ all,” Tenab commented, with Pachuku puffing up his chest proudly.
“Well, yeah, especially that we have new moves!”
Sanvu now that he was within a relatively calm environment was now just letting that sink in, that he had a new ‘move’ when he couldn’t even be sure what it was he even did before. Most of this was going in one ear and out the other. It took a while for them to notice that he’d vacated his own mind.
“He alright?”
“Uhh, Sanvu!” The green blob managed to shake him out of his stupor once he shook it all out.
“Maybe we just need to rest, if only she’d let us go.”
“Yeah, if what you said is true then you two must be beat!”
“Yes, you can go, I’ll need to sort this out tomorrow,” Didra asserted, as she simply appeared in the hall where they’d talked for basically the entire evening. “Go and rest, and be ready for tomorrow,” she parted, waving all of them goodbye.
That night was spent with resting their weary bodies and much discussion about what the future held. Sanvu in particular was only just letting sink in the matter of his new move, as he fell into a comfortable sleep that night.
So each of the members continued to work for an entire week, slowly trying to uncover what the missing type energy was related to the superior. Sanvu didn’t have a single dream, and continued to work on bettering his new move to the point it was merely effortless to create a single Leaf Tornado. The Minders were assigned to each of the dungeons they had already been to various times in an attempt to find out how the dungeons were related, with the odd rescue here and there.
It wasn’t until the end of this week of roughly 5-6 days when they would actually begin to come across something.
0 Comments